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NEWS > HEALTH > THE BLACK PLAGUE MAKING TRIUMPHANT COMEBACK ACROSS THE WORLD
THE BLACK PLAGUE MAKING TRIUMPHANT COMEBACK ACROSS THE WORLD
November 23 2011
Hamilton, Canada – Once upon a time there was a disease, a deadly disease, that wiped out millions of people. That disease, Yersinia pestis, better known as the Black Death, or Black Plague, fundamentally altered the course of human history forever by killing a third of the population of Europe.
The plague, though, didn’t just bring death. It also brought prosperity. The sudden demise of millions of people concentrated wealth into the hands of a lucky few survivors. It blended classes and reduced the population to a more manageable level, spurring a major economic recovery that led to one of the most productive times in European history and, it has been argued, laid the path for what would become modern Capitalism.
So the Plague wasn’t all bad after all and now, in similarly harsh economic times, researchers at McMaster University in Canada have found that the Plague has started to make a major comeback. While that return will likely mean the deaths of millions, at least, it could also prove to be the spark needed to push us out of the economic doldrums we are currently experiencing.
“We see small outbreaks of the disease in isolated areas throughout the world and even in the United States, but nothing on that scale of what happened in Europe. That spread was exacerbated by the unsanitary conditions of the time as well as limitations in antibiotics and other treatments,” said one researcher. “That is not the case in today’s world and so the bacteria would have to undergo a significant change 
in order to really gain ground. Because of the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria we expect that such an alteration will come sooner rather than later.”
It’s believed likely that if a modern, virulent, version of the disease did appear that it would spread rapidly and affect people all over the world owing to our travelling nature.
It’s not clear yet how many would die, but most expect a lot.
“Whether we like it or not, the reality is that things like disease and war are actually good for the world. They spur innovation and, as has been evidenced over and over again, can actually change the world and the course of humanity forever and a new disease, whether the plague or something else, would likely do the same thing,” said Scrape TV Apocalypse analyst Seth Morris. “We rely on disease to push the species forward and this particular one has proven itself, over and over again, to be very effective at changing the course of history.”
The bacteria that created the Black Plague was likely also responsible for the Plague of Justinian which ended in 542. That disease weakened the Byzantine Empire and likely prompted the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain.
“No one wants to die, particularly not from a long, lingering, and painful illness the likes of which the plague would most certainly create but everyone does die and if you are going to go, you might as well go with a purpose,” continued Morris. “There is no guarantee that a new outbreak of the Plague would make humanity better, but there is also no evidence that it wouldn’t and it’s not like there’s much we can do about it anyway so there isn’t much sense on worrying. Bring it on, I say.”
The researchers provided no timetable for a new outbreak.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
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